Mother’s Day is quickly approaching so we wanted to talk about great gift ideas for the occasion. But of course, this episode helps you to figure out how to buy great gifts for anyone, at any time, for any occasion.

But before we get into all of this, we always want to take a moment to realize how hard Mother’s Day is for so many people, especially in the foster and adoption circles. There is the loss of your mother, the loss of the bio mothers of your children, the feelings that go with that, and just so many other potential reasons why this day may be hard or so many people. We see you friends – and we get it. If this day is a hard one – you can choose to by pass it! But if you are a mom, I encourage you to make the day as fun as you want it to be! If you want gifts – make sure your family is aware of that! Sometimes you have to be very blunt. Very. Blunt. AKA tell them what you want.

A few years ago, I read this book called ‘Giftology’ by John Ruhlin. John is the #1 Cutco salesman in the history of the company. He prides himself on getting to this position thanks to his ability to make a lasting impression, and understanding the fine art of giving gifts. 

What Moms Want

We poled our followers on social media to see what Moms wanted for Mother’s Day, and 100% of them said they wanted some time to themselves! Whether it was by sleeping in, or being gifted with time to go get her nails done by herself (or with a friend), or just having the freedom to got out for an hour or five to go out and do whatever she wanted. Alone. Or with no kids, to be specific.

Another great gift idea is to prepare at least one REALLY great meal, so that mom doesn’t have to prepare it OR clean it up! The thing I ask for every year is that I am not in charge of any cooking or cleaning that day. I set the family up for success by making sure there are plenty of groceries, and all the necessary things in place to make sure I have my favorite foods for this great day. 🙂

To be clear, moms want:

• Time to themselves
• Meals with no clean up or prep on their part. Takeout is ok, and sometimes highly encouraged
• Cards/or Words that truly express gratitude and love
• Actual gifts bought from stores is secondary to these 3 things!
• Cash. Sometimes the gift that speaks volumes is money. The gift of time alone plus money? That’s a game changer!

Best and Worst Gifts

We find that Engagement Stories often reflect the giver more often than the person who is receiving the gift. The giver – the person who is proposing, may be interested in putting on a major show, even though all his future fiancee wants is a quiet and intimate moment. Ruhlin actually shares about how his engagement to his wife was exactly what I am describing.

We also share our engagement story in this episode, as we are celebrating our 15 year engagement anniversary this week! Chris did make an elaborate plan to propose, but it was still intimate and just involved he and I. And it was full of literal uphill battles, and hiccups, and that’s been pretty consistent in our lives!

I do admit on this episode that one of the ‘worst’/least favorite gifts I have ever gotten from Chris is a heart shaped necklace. I am not a heart shaped necklace kind of girl. And these hearts (yes, there’s two of them) are pretty big. I’ve seen some really cute little heart necklaces. But that’s not what Chris is interested in buying for his woman. The bigger the heart, the better. And I will like it whether I like it or not! 🙂

The Good Word of the Day

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

– Ephesians 2:8

If there is a gift that is abundant – but that is not given away as freely as it should be – it’s Grace. God has graciously poured out his love to us. We should also be gracious to those around us. And gracious to ourselves as well!

We hope you enjoy this episode! We are so thankful for all of you listeners! If you want to connect – feel free to email us at jihaeandchris@yahoo.com , or find us on Instagram!